Politics & Government

Senate Panel Legislation to Protect Long Island Sound

The sound is listed as an impaired waterbody and its current acts providing protection expire this year.

A U.S. Senate panel today announced new legislation that would bring federal dollars to support the restoration of Long Island Sound, a waterbody identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as "impaired."

The new legislation — The Long Island Sound Restoration & Stewardship Act — authorizes $325 million over the next five years to improve the sound's water quality, initiate habitat protection projects and enhance public access opportunities, according to a news release sent Wednesday by Sen. Joe Liberman's office.

The sound borders New York and Connecticut, with 8 million people living on the coast and 20 million people living within 50 miles of it. Although decades of overdevelopment, pollution, dumping of dredged materials, and releases of untreated sewage have severely hurt the water quality, the sound's economic contribution from sport and commercial fishing, boating, recreation and tourism is estimated to be just over $5.5 billion a year, according to the release.

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"This legislation will help us fulfill our obligation to preserve and restore the sound and its natural habitat for future generations," Lieberman said in the release.

"The Long Island Sound is a national treasure that generations of Connecticut families have enjoyed over the years," Sen. Chris Dodd echoed in the release. "In addition to its natural beauty, thousands of Connecticut's residents depend on the Long Island Sound for their economic livelihood, which is why I am so pleased to see this legislation move forward, and I hope to see this important bill become law before the end of the year."

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In 1985, the EPA, in agreement with New York and Connecticut, created the Long Island Sound Study (LISS), an office under the EPA charged with advancing efforts to restore the sound and address low oxygen levels and high nitrogen levels that have depleted fish and shellfish populations as well as hurt shoreline wetlands. 

In 1990, the Long Island Sound Improvement Act passed providing federal dollars to advance cleanup projects in the sound, including wastewater treatment improvements. In 2006, identifying the need for increased stakeholder participation and the need to focus on coastal restoration and improved public access and education, Congress passed the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act which provided federal dollars for projects to restore the coastal habitat to help revitalize the wildlife population and coastal wetlands and plant life. Last year, the Congress funded both programs at $7 million. 

This year, the Long Island Sound Restoration Act expires, and the Long Island Sound Stewardship Act expires next year.  The Long Island Sound Restoration & Stewardship Act includes new areas of concentration in the remediation efforts including climate change adaptation, sea level rise and resource management.

The new bill also includes additional reporting requirements to better outline the activities and projects enacted to improve the health of the sound.  The legislation also authorizes $1 million for a pilot project to demonstrate the use of nutrient bioextraction technologies as a possible tool for remediation of the sound.  Nutrient bioextraction uses sea plants, mollusks, or other organisms to naturally absorb nutrients, which are then harvested from the sound; demonstrating potential commercial applications in seafood for the region and the nation.


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